Underdog
by Gothic Melting Icecream
Summary: Discovering that he’s about as straight as a pretzel through his crush on the boy he thinks he can never have is making life very hard for Ryou Bakura. Add in the fact that he's a target for bullies and how will Ryou handle his transfer into a new school?
1. Chapter 1

Title: Underdog (may be subject to change)

Pairings: MarikxBakura, Ryou+Yami and eventual YamixRyou

Warnings: Swearing, shonen-ai, um maybe some sexual situations and violence

Disclaimer: Don't own. No sue.

Summary: Discovering that he's about as straight as a pretzel through his crush on the boy he thinks he can never have is making life _very_ hard for Ryou Bakura. Add in the fact that he's a target for bullies and how will Ryou Bakura handle his transfer into a new school?

Notes: Right...I'll be using the English school system simply because I know nothing about American and Japanese schooling. This fic is AU (obviously)

Chapter 1/ Prologue

Ryou surveyed the living room, which looked like it had been hit by a hurricane named Bakura. He sighed and made his way around the room, picking his way through the victims: soda cans, dirty plates, take away containers etc. Just as he was about to venture back out into the devastation for another round of damage control, the doorbell rang. He stepped carefully through the mess as he made his way to the front door, so as not to impale himself on an upturned fork. The doorbell was rung again, accompanied by three sharp knocks.

"I'm coming, I'm coming! Hold on." He finally reached the front door and opened it. A smile broke out on his face when he saw who it was and he leapt up and flung his arms around his neck in a firm hug.

"Marik!" Marik stared down at the white-haired bundle in his arms, and grinned as he made his way through the door, bundle and all.

"Pipsqueak." He greeted as per usual, having never called Ryou by his name. "Is your–?"

"He's upstairs. In his room." Marik nodded then grabbed Ryou by the arm and proceeded to drag him through the living room and up the stairs.

"Hey–! Wha–?"

"Come on, I need to talk to you too."

"Oh, okay." And he resigned himself to be dragged though his house.

They finally stopped outside a black door with 'No Entry' and 'Do Not Enter' signs plastered to the door. Loud rock music blasted through the closed door, so loud that Ryou could feel the beat vibrating through his body. Marik didn't even bother to knock and just went straight in, knowing that a) it would never be heard and b) Bakura wouldn't mind anyhow. Ryou closed the door behind him and turned around, just in time to catch the scene unfolding in front of him.

Bakura was sitting with his back to the door, and with his music playing as it was, he hadn't heard them enter. Marik scowled and walked over to the boy sitting on the bed. Bakura finally noticed him but it was too late. Before he even opened his mouth to say 'hello', Marik had dragged him to his feet by the front of his shirt and, using that same grip, pulled him into a kiss.

Ryou stared for a second before averting his eyes, a light blush staining his cheeks. Knowing them both as well as he knew them; he didn't know why he thought that it would be a chaste kiss. He heard a moan come from their vicinity and his blush intensified. He contemplated leaving the room, and his hand was on the handle but was stopped by his brother.

"It's okay Ryou, you can look now. We're finished...for the most part." He turned back around, confused about the cryptic answer, but it soon became clear what he meant. Marik had pulled Bakura onto the bed and positioned him to sit in between his outstretched legs, and his hands were now exploring under Bakura's shirt, his face buried in his hair. He walked over to the bed, but made a detour to turn down the music before placing himself at the foot of the bed by their feet.

"What's this I hear about you moving school?" Came the somewhat muffled voice of Marik.

"Umm...yeah." Ryou stammered out, not really wanting to talk about it. "When school starts up again, I'll be starting year 9 at you and Bakura's school."

"So why aren't you staying on at your school?" Marik moved his face away from Bakura's hair and was just resting his chin on his boyfriend's shoulder, his hands still under Bakura's shirt but resting on his hips now. Bakura pecked him on the cheek, a smug smile gracing his features.

"I got bullied a lot in my old school so my parents figured that moving school would sort out the problem." Marik scowled and pulled his head away to glare at Bakura.

"Why wasn't I told about this?"

"Guys, it doesn–"

Bakura grinned, "I took care of it."

"You don't have t– You did what!"

Bakura's grin turned slightly sinister. "I took care of it. Found out who the bastards were and made sure that they wouldn't even _look_ at you funny."

Marik pouted, which looked ridiculous on him since Marik was one sadistic son of a bitch and calling him insane was a massive understatement. "I still can't believe you didn't tell me. It would have been so much fun." Bakura raised one hand to stroke Marik's cheek, trying to placate his boyfriend.

"Don't be upset with me, this was minor stuff. You know I always call you for the important things." Bakura pecked Marik on the lips, still stroking his cheek. Marik, not satisfied with just that, leaned in and kissed Bakura deeply. He snaked his arm around Bakura's waist, his hand restarting its journey under his shirt while his other hand buried itself in Bakura's hair. Bakura braced his hands on Marik's biceps and lost himself in the kiss.

Ryou, momentarily forgotten, sighed and turned away. It was _really_ scary how his brother and Marik seemed to bond over violence and brutality. It was even scarier how they loved getting into fights and got upset over missing out on any type of altercation that had the possibility to escalate into a full-blown fight. And they both seemed to have this... sinister childishness was the best way to describe it. For example, once Bakura got upset after one fight with a gang that had tried to mug him and Marik because they had run off before he managed to draw their blood. Sometimes it seemed that they were both not all there. It made Ryou glad that one of them was his older brother and the other had seemingly adopted him as a younger brother.

A groan startled him out of his musings and his blush returned full force. He hoped that they wouldn't forget about him and get...intimate. He waited a bit longer, but seeing that they weren't going to stop of their own accord took it upon himself to stop them. He just hoped Bakura had saved up because he was going to be paying for his therapy.

"Umm..." He cleared his throat, hoping to subtly shake them out of their embrace but, obviously, they were too into each other to hear it. "Err guys? Bakura? Marik?" Seeing Bakura's hand about to disappear down Marik's jeans almost made him hyperventilate, but it succeeded in totally freaking him out.

"Guys, stop!" They reluctantly broke the kiss, Marik nipping a few times and his boyfriend's lips before turning to Ryou.

"Sorry," they said simultaneously, not really sounding all that sincere.

"Anyway," Ryou brushed a lock of hair out of his eye and sighed. "I'm really grateful for what you did for me Bakura, but it doesn't matter because I always seem to be a target for bullies. So I'll probably be picked on again at my new school." Marik growled and Bakura scowled.

"Not fucking likely. Seriously Ryou, if anything happens at school – and I mean _anything_ – you come find me or Marik in school, and if not then tell me at home and we'll sort it out. No one is going to bully you in my school."

"Even if it's just minor things like knocking your lunch tray or bumping into you in the hallways, make sure you tell us." Ryou smiled, relieved. He'd heard stories of how elder siblings didn't want anything to do with their younger ones in school, and feared that it would be the case with him and Bakura. He should have known better; he knew that Bakura was fiercely protective of him and Marik was just as bad. Coupled with their strange love of fighting and they were willing to hurt (or on bad days seriously maim) those that even _breathed _wrong around Ryou. That was probably why Ryou was sometimes wary of telling Bakura if anything happened to him because he was scared of coming home one day and finding out that Bakura was in jail for killing someone.

"So Marik, why did you come round?" Marik feigned looking hurt.

"What? Do I need a reason to visit my boyfriend?" Bakura bopped him lightly on the head.

"Don't be stupid, you know I love it when you come round, but you never come round when there's a chance of my parents being here, and today's a Sunday."

"Yeah well, where are your folks anyway?" Bakura shrugged, not really knowing and not really caring.

"Mum and Dad went to out to have dinner with some friends."

"Good," Bakura's parents didn't like Marik, and he hated them. It wasn't the fact that he was Bakura's boyfriend that ticked them off; his parents seem to tolerate the fact that their son was gay, like it was just a phase and he would grow out of it. They disliked him mainly because they believed that he was a good for nothing, bad tempered, street punk with a serious attitude problem. They thought he was a bad influence on Bakura (although that couldn't be farther from the truth; they were as bad as each other) and they loathed the fact that Marik had 'adopted' Ryou as his little brother.

"I just came round to see you, of course," At this, Bakura smiled. "And to tell you that there's a party tonight. Wanna come?"

"A party."

"Yep,"

"On a Sunday."

"Yep,"

"The day before we go back to school."

"Yep,"

Bakura jumped up. "I wondered why you were all dressed up," Marik was wearing baggy black jeans that hung low on his hips. His top was also black: it was a tight, black wife beater that showed off his toned upper body. On his feet were his heavy, black, leather motorcycle boots, and to top it all off, there was a black leather collar around his neck with spikes that made him look dangerously seductive. "Alright, I'm game. Whose party is it?" He walked over to his wardrobe, and flinging open the doors he searched for something to wear.

"Dunno. Otogi was the one to tell me about. All I know is that it's some rich bastard's who thought he'd be a 'bad boy' and throw a party while his folks were away."

"Right. So does that mean we trash his house?"

Marik smirked, "Damn straight. We're supposed to meet up with Otogi over on the east side in front of that strip club and he'll take us there." Bakura finally came out of his closet and stripped down right there in front of everyone, not in the least bit body shy (not that he had anything to be shy about), causing Ryou to avert his eyes, for the third time that evening. He squeezed himself into a pair of sinfully tight, black leather pants. His shirt was a mesh sleeveless shirt and it clung to his upper body, advertising how toned his torso was. His top sported an intricate design of blood red vines that started in the bottom corner of his shirt and expanded outwards, tendrils of the design curling sensually around the area where his nipples would be. He finished the outfit off with steel-toed, heavy motorcycle boots and turned to his lover for inspection.

Marik grinned. "Absolutely fuckable."

"I'm glad you like." He turned to his little brother who was still staring at the bed sheets. "Ryou were not gonna come back until late. You have two choices: either you can stay here by yourself until mum and dad come back, or you can come to the party with us. What do you wanna do?"

Ryou worried his lower lip with his teeth. "I don't want to stay here alone but...I've never been to a party like that before."

"Look, don't sweat it." He put his Bluetooth headset on and stuffed his phone into his boot. "Bring your phone with you and if anything happens or you just wanna go home, phone me and we'll sort it out, okay?" Ryou nodded and smiled but it soon dropped off his face when he caught sight of the identical evil grins on his brother's and Marik's faces.

"W-What?"

Both grins widened in synchronisation and Ryou feared for his sanity. "Time to get dressed."

xXx

Ryou scowled down at his outfit. He didn't even know that he owned jeans that tight; it was a bloody struggle just to get his phone into his pocket. And the shirt...Ryou crossed his arms over his chest feeling entirely too exposed in a top on loan from Bakura. It was a tight (what else? Bakura didn't know the meaning of the word 'loose') red sleeveless top with numerous slashes and rips. There was black mesh underneath some of the tears making it somewhat better, but Ryou still felt he might as well as been wearing nothing for the lot of good that top did him. He put a jean jacket on over the top, feeling marginally better but still leery of this whole party thing.

He looked up and found Bakura and Marik staring at him expectantly. He sighed and pulled on his trainers.

"Alright, I'm ready. Just how are we getting there?" Marik and Bakura exchanged looks before saying simultaneously,

"Bike," Ryou dropped his head into his hands and shook it.

"Alright, fine. It's not like I have a choice."

"That's right, you don't. Now you're riding with me. Let's go." They walked through the front door, Ryou locking it behind them, and he walked over to the garage where Bakura was opening the door to get to his bike. Marik straddled his, which was parked in the drive and started the engine.

"Meet you there 'Kura." he called back. Then he revved his engine once and took off. Bakura got on his own bike and turned to Ryou.

"C'mon, get on and make sure you hold on tight. I don't want you to get hurt." Ryou clambered on behind him and wrapped his arms around his brother's waist tightly.

"I'm ready," Bakura didn't answer; he just started the engine and took off down the driveway and onto the road. Ryou shut his eyes and clutched even tighter at Bakura. No matter how many times he travelled with Bakura (or Marik for that matter) on his bike, he would never get used to it. It didn't help that they both had no regards for personal safety and thought that the speed limit was merely a suggestion. He groaned as Bakura put on another burst of speed and buried his face into his brother's back. It was going to be a long night.

Soon he noticed that they were slowing down, and finally they stopped, miraculously with them both still in one piece.

"You can open your eyes now Ryou. We're here." Came the somewhat amused voice of Bakura.

"Otogi should be here by now." Marik said, annoyed at having to wait. Ryou jumped about a foot into the air, having not heard Marik approach and turned and glared at his other 'brother', which did nothing but make Marik burst out laughing.

"Hey Bakura," said an unfamiliar voice, one that served to make Ryou jump again. "Marik. What's up with the short lookalike 'Kura?" A young man appeared from the alley way beside the strip club. His long dark hair was pulled up into a ponytail and his cat-like green eyes glowed impishly. Bakura growled.

"I've told you not to call me that. Do it one more time and my knife will find a new home in your stomach." Otogi held his hands up in a defensive gesture even though he was still smirking.

"Alright, alright, no need to get violent. So who's the runt?" Ryou scowled; he wasn't even that short, so he didn't know why people felt compelled to imply that he was vertically challenged.

"Don't call him that. He's my brother and his name's Ryou."

"That's great, really it is, but why is he _here_?"

Bakura turned to his boyfriend. "Tell me again why we haven't beaten the crap out of this guy." Marik pecked him on the lips.

"I haven't got a fucking clue. But he's really starting to piss me off. How about we rectify that right now?"

"Sounds good."

Otogi waved his arms frantically. "No no no no no! You don't want to do that! I'll be quiet just...don't do that."

Marik smirked sadistically. "Good. Now shut up and take us to the party." Otogi shook his head and walked over to his car, deactivating the alarm, opening the door and sliding in.

"Just follow me." he called out of the open window. "I don't know why I put up with you two psychos..." he muttered as he started the car, not thinking that they heard.

"Because we make your sad and dreary life more interesting." Bakura called back, firing up his own engine again, Marik revving his bike right behind him. Otogi gulped and drove off, Bakura and Marik not too far behind, and Ryou clinging on for dear life.

xXx


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

It seemed as though the party only really started when Bakura and Marik arrived. Even though they didn't know whose house it was, they certainly knew most of the people there.

Ryou smirked (looking eerily like his brother) when he caught sight of the host. Well he guessed he was the host from the way he was frantically looking around at the strangers destroying his house; a panic-stricken expression on his bespectacled face, showing that he was _this_ close to tears. Another crash sounded over the loud music and Ryou pitied the poor guy, who'd have to explain the damage to his parents.

As soon as they'd arrived, Ryou had found a relatively quiet corner by the food and drinks to sit by himself, letting Bakura know where he was before letting them go off into the crowd on the makeshift dance floor. He had a clear view of them though the arched doorway from where he was sitting, and he could see them moving fluidly to the music, their own movements setting them apart from the other awkwardly moving dancers. He heard the music change and recognised it as one of Bakura's favourite songs; he could practically see the twin smirks that he knew to be on both their faces. He blushed as he saw Marik grab Bakura by the hips and pull him flush against his front. He averted his gaze when they started to grind together: Bakura's head thrown back on Marik's shoulder, Marik's lips fused to Bakura's neck and his hands rocking the leather clad hips in front of him.

"Disgusting, isn't it?" Ryou jumped, nearly spilling his drink on his jeans. He turned to see who it was that spoke and found himself staring at a boy, around his bother's age, with dirty blond hair, and who was griping his drink rather tightly. Not wanting to anger this person, but feeling the need to stick up for his brother's relationship, he said,

"I don't mind it; I think it's sweet."

"It's sick!" The older boy spat. He turned and got a good look at the boy sitting on the chair, and smirked.

"Are you related to Bakura?"

"Y-yeah, he's my older brother." Ryou stammered out, the other person making him feel uncomfortable and nervous.

"Mmm yeah, you look just like each other." Suddenly he dropped his drink and his hand reached out and clamped down hard on Ryou's arm, forcing him to drop his drink as well. He dragged him to his feet and started dragging him towards the stairs, away from his brother and Marik. "You're coming with me. Now be a good boy and come along quietly." His other arm reached out and wrapped around Ryou waist. Ryou started to struggle viciously, kicking back with his feet, and wriggling around trying to loosen the grip the man had on him.

"No! Get off me! Stop it! BAKURA!" He called helplessly, wishing his brother was there. The boy, fed up with all the struggling, hauled back and punched Ryou in the stomach. All the air rushed out of Ryou and he had to fight the urge to curl up and protect his midsection.

"There's no point, he can't hear you over the music." And with that Ryou gave up, tears of frustration running down is cheeks as he was taken away.

What he forgot was that his phone was voice activated, and that it had called Bakura.

xXx

Bakura was in the middle of kissing his boyfriend while dancing, when his phone went off. He pressed a button on his headset to accept the call.

"Yes Ryou?" However no one answered. He pressed the headset closer in an attempt to make it louder, but all he heard was a muffled thump and a choked cry. Then he heard the words that made his worry escalate into pure fury.

_/There's no point, he can't hear you over the music./_

He growled and cut the call. He turned to Marik and leaned forward to speak into his ear so that he could hear him over the music.

"I think Ryou's in trouble." Marik's expression darkened and together they made their through the crowd over to where Ryou said he'd be. He saw his brother and the would-be kidnapper just as they were about to go up the stairs and Bakura snapped.

"What the _fuck_ do you think you're doing?" he shouted over the music as he stalked towards them, his fist clenching and relaxing sporadically as if he was anxious to get them around the other boys throat. Marik was right behind him, a cold expression on his face. They froze, well the boy did anyway, Ryou looked up in relief and smiled tremulously but that served to be Bakura's undoing, seeing the tears on his brother's face. He went to lunge but Marik beat him to it, his arms outstretched, fingers itching to close around his throat. The boy panicked and threw Ryou to the side so that he'd be able to face Marik head on, instead as using him as a shield. Ryou crashed to the floor, and then let out a pained shout as he landed awkwardly on his hand. Bakura went straight to him and crouched down beside his little brother, hugging him to his body tightly.

Marik grabbed the boys arm and pulled it up and back.

"What fuck do you think you're doing?" he asked, his voice deceptively calm.

The boy gritted out between clenched teeth, "Gettin' my own back on that bastard Bakura."

"Wrong answer." The boy let out a shout as Marik increased the pressure on his arm.

"I don't even know who the fuck you are." said Bakura, still comforting his brother by running his hand through his hair gently.

"You fuckin' beat me up and leave me for dead in the middle of an alley way, and you don't even remember who I am!"

Bakura smirked, "I can't remember every single idiot that I beat the crap out of. What? Did you think you were _special_?"

"Yeah, well it's your fault why I attacked your brother. I saw him and thought I'd get me some payback."

"And you'll regret that for the rest of your unnaturally short life." Marik said right before he gave one final jerk, and with a wet pop the arm dislocated. The screams that the boy uttered reverberated throughout the whole house, alerting people to that fact that there was a fight going on. The music shut off as many people gathered round to watch the events unfolding. Marik barely acknowledged all that; he grabbed the boy by the hair and slammed his face into the wall. He pulled the face back and stared at it.

"Hmm, no blood yet." And slammed his face into the wall again and again until there was blood running down his face from multiple cuts and abrasions and thick blood was smeared on the otherwise pristine white wall. He then punched him in the stomach and when he doubled up, hugging his stomach with his one good hand, he used his booted foot to kick him to the ground. He bent down and turned the boy onto his back, then sat on his stomach, using his knees to keep his arms by his side. He took his knife from out of his pocket and pressed it against his neck, drawing more blood.

"I'll cut a chunk out of you for every tear you made Ryou cry." He said quietly, dangerously, and used the knife to cut away his shirt. Ryou, who had finally stopped crying into his brother's top, turned around in his brother's arms and watched with dawning horror as Marik was about to start slicing.

"No," he called out weakly, trying to stop the violence but not quite sure that Marik heard him. However, Marik had heard him perfectly and stopped with the knife millimetres away from his skin. He looked at Ryou, the obvious question in his eyes.

"Stop, _please_? I don't want you to get in trouble. Can we please just go home now?" Marik growled but nodded and leaned forward and whispered something in the boy's ear that made him whimper and shake uncontrollably before getting to his feet. With one last stomp to the boy injured stomach they walked out of the party.

The ride home was silent. Bakura had borrowed (threatened Otogi into giving him...) Otogi's car since he didn't want to risk Ryou holding onto him with his sprained wrist on the motorbike. Marik had given him a kiss and taken off on his bike with promises to come round the next morning.

Bakura didn't even turn on the radio and Ryou didn't want to risk upsetting him more. He sat quietly in his seat at the front, cradling his injured wrist to his chest.

"Bakura?" he asked softly. A grunt was his only answer. He almost let that discourage him but he really wanted an answer to his question.

"Are you angry with me, Bakura?" Bakura glanced at Ryou and noticed how utterly miserable he was. He wrapped his arm around Ryou's shoulder and hugged him briefly. Ryou smiled, glad that his brother wasn't upset with him.

"Don't be stupid, I would never be angry at you." He growled. "I'm angry at myself more than anything. I should have made you stay at home."

"Don't blame yourself for what happened tonight. I sure as hell don't. You couldn't have known that something like this was going to happen." Bakura didn't say anything to that, he just smiled.

"Let's just get home; I need to bandage your wrist."

xXx

Ryou sat up in bed suddenly, breathing heavily, a scream dying in his throat before he gave voice to it. He hugged his knees to his body, mindful of his bandaged wrist, and let out a dry sob. Ever since he'd gone to sleep he kept on having dreams about those what-could've-beens about what happened to him hours ago. It started out the same way: his brother never made to him in time and he was taken away. But a different thing happened to him each time in the dream and he was terrified.

It was about the third time he'd woken in cold sweat that night and he didn't want to go back to sleep, but he knew he had to if he didn't want to be a zombie on his first day at school. He got out of bed and staggered into his en suite bathroom. He turned on the light and walked over to the sink where he splashed some cold water on his face to wash away the sweat. He switched off the light and walked out of the bathroom then out of his room. He leaned against the wall in the hallway, indecision tearing at him. His parents believed he was too old to go into their room when he'd have a nightmare but he didn't want to wake Bakura. His parents didn't even know about what happened and why he got that sprained wrist. They were furious enough when they found out that Bakura had taken him to a party with 'that psychotic street thug'; he didn't want to know what they would do to Bakura if they found out that he been at the centre of a fight.

In the end his fear coupled with exhaustion made the decision for him and he crept into Bakura's room, shutting the door quietly behind him. He was just standing there, not sure on how to proceed, when the Bakura suddenly spoke up.

"What's the matter Ryou?" he said, his voice muffled by the pillow.

"I-I keep on having nightmares...about what happened at the party." Bakura turned over, so that he was facing the door and lifted up the duvet.

"C'mon," he yawned, "Get in." Ryou's smile was like the sun breaking over the clouds. He hurried to the bed and got in, burying himself under the covers. Bakura wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him close.

"Thank you Bakura."

"Hn. Now go to sleep."

xXx

"Bakura, if we don't leave now we're gonna be late! I don't care if you don't care because I care!" Suddenly Bakura appeared in front of him, making him jump back in surprise and clutch his chest.

"Right, whatever Ryou. It's 8 o'clock; school starts in _forty_ minutes. So calm down." Ryou blushed at that, but he didn't really want to be late on his first day and make a bad impression on the teachers. "And besides, we have to wait for Marik." Bakura grabbed his jacket that was hanging by the door. Suddenly the doorbell rang and Bakura smirked.

"Speak of the devil." He opened the door, but before he could speak, he was pulled forward by his shirt and into a kiss. His hand slid up Marik's torso to rest on Marik's cheek. His other hand was resting in the back pocket of Marik's jeans. Marik broke the kiss reluctantly to rest his chin on Bakura's shoulder.

"You alright, pipsqueak?" He asked over Bakura's shoulder, looking intently at Ryou for any signs of discomfort. Ryou gave him a small smile, but it was true.

"Yeah. My wrist still hurts but my stomach is only a little tender. I'm fine." Marik's expression darkened and it was then that Ryou remembered that he hadn't told them about getting hit. Crap. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Really. And besides he got a _lot_ worse than me." He walked through the doorway past them and went over the car Bakura borrowed from Otogi. "Ready to go to school?"

"Yep." He pecked Bakura on the lips and went over to his bike. "See you there, love." Then he took off down the road towards the school. Bakura and Ryou both got in the car and they took off after Marik toward what Bakura called 'hell'.

They arrived with plenty of time to spare (Bakura's driving made sure of that), a detail that Bakura had great fun in pointing out to his to his brother, much to Ryou's annoyance.

"I'll take you to the office, but then I'll have to go; I have a before-school class. You're supposed to go to the cafeteria until the bell rings. If you can't remember where it is then ask some– actually, I have a better idea. Go with Marik – he'll take you to our common room. Year 9s aren't supposed to be in there but no one'll say anything if you're with Marik." They got out of the car and Bakura spoke to Marik quickly about what was going on. They both went to the office with Ryou and Bakura hugged his brother briefly before taking off to his lesson. They walked into the office, Ryou going up to the secretary while Marik took a seat.

"Um...m-my name's Ryou Bakura and I'm a new student here." The secretary smiled at him, partly to reassure him and partly because he seemed like such a nice boy.

"Okay. The headmistress is expecting you so go on through." The boy smiled and went into the head's office. But before he went through the door he gave a small wave at Marik, who smiled back in encouragement. The door shut with a quiet 'click' and the secretary immediately rounded on Marik.

"Alright Marik, what are you doing in here this early in the morning. School hasn't even started yet; don't tell me you're in trouble already."

Marik smirked, "I only just got here; I ain't done anything...yet."

"So why are you here?"

"I'm here to look after the pipsqueak until school starts."

"Pipsqueak? Oh you mean Ryou Bakura. How does a sweet boy like him know _you_?"

"Isn't it obvious? He's Bakura's little brother. And you know how I know Bakura." He grinned at her, and it was disconcerting to say the least. Marik grins were disturbing, considering the fact that what he and Bakura found funny usually left someone else in hospital.

"Um yeah. So does Bakura care about his little brother a lot then?" It may seem like she was being a bit intrusive and if it was anyone else they would've already been threatened (or already nursing a bloody nose) but Bakura and Marik liked her. Since they spent most of their time waiting to see the head (though not because they were troublemakers. Most of the time it was other people picking fights with them), they ended up talking to her quite a bit and found that she was probably the nicest teacher in the school. She didn't mind that they were gay; and she stuck up for them time and time again when they were about to get in trouble for putting someone else in the hospital, even though it wasn't them who started the fight. She was 'safe' in their books.

"A hell of a lot. Bakura would do anything for his brother. And the pipsqueak is like my brother as well so…" She nodded in understanding and smiled. She'd guessed that Marik didn't have the best family life. She met his father once and didn't like him on sight, so it was good that Marik managed to find another 'family', so to speak, people who accepted him for who he was. Just then, Ryou came out of the head's office nodding at something she said and smiling.

"So I take it, it went well, pipsqueak." Ryou's head whipped round.

"I was only going in to register and make sure I knew all the rules; it's not like I was in trouble or anything." he said, walking over to where Marik was sitting down. Marik heaved an exaggerated sigh and got to his feet, arching his back to make it click because he knew that Ryou hated it when he did that. Right on cue, Ryou winced and scowled at Marik, which had no effect on him and only served to make him smirk.

"C'mon let's go. If we don't get to the common room soon then someone else will hog the TV and put on some crap."

"Excuse me Marik, but isn't the common room off limits to everyone except sixth-formers?" she asked, her blue eyes twinkling.

He turned to her, and in a moment of good humour, raised a finger to his lips and said, "Shhh, Jo! Don't tell anyone." Then he gave her a smirk and walked out of the office with Ryou behind him.

It was fascinating walking down the hallway with Marik. No one dared to make eye-contact with him and they hurried to move out of his way. He was getting a few (make that a lot of) strange looks from the other students. They were probably wondering why anyone (who wasn't Bakura) would be walking with Marik and _not_ get attacked, or severely threatened. Ryou kept his head down, not liking having attention drawn to himself, and the way people were staring at them, it seemed that Marik was rather famous (or infamous) in this school. He was led outside and to another building, where Marik had to input a code into the door in order to get in.

"I don't know why they have coded doors; it's not like anyone is going to break _into_ a school." Ryou laughed, his nervousness easing in the presence of his 'brother'. They walked down a hallway until they came to a room with a large sofa in the middle and a TV directly in front of it with other comfy-looking chairs dispersed around that vicinity; there was a kitchen (which was really just a counter with several cupboards, a sink, a _small_ fridge and a microwave) and a table in the corner with more of those comfy-looking chairs which, Ryou guessed, must be where they do their work or eat their food. Marik slammed the door hard behind him, announcing his entrance to the rest of the room.

"Marik, what's with the runt?" Ryou sighed; he really didn't understand the obsession to refer to his height every time he met someone new but… The person who'd spoken was sitting at the table in the corner working on what looked like the latest state-of-the-art laptop (Ryou would know since he had one at home), and hadn't even looked up when they walked into the room, so how he knew _who_ he was talking to, never mind how he new that someone who didn't belong in the common room was there, was beyond Ryou. Marik however, took it all in stride, it not being a strange occurrence to him.

"Don't call him that Kaiba; his name is Ryou, Bakura's little brother."

"Right," he said, still not looking up from his laptop, fingers moving like lightning over the keys on the keyboard. "But what is he doing _here_? You know it's forbidden for people who are not sixth-formers to be in here."

Marik snorted. "And you, Kaiba, should know me well enough by now to know that I don't give a fuck about the rules. If I want to take the pipsqueak here, then I'll do whatever the hell I want."

"Whatever. And how comes you're allowed to call him names?"

"Because I've known him longer than you." Marik smirked. "And because I'm fucking his brother." Ryou blushed vividly and it was Kaiba's turn to snort.

"I didn't need to know that."

"You shouldn't have asked." Marik pulled out another one of those comfy-looking chairs and gestured for Ryou to sit down. Kaiba glanced up at Ryou; his fingers still tapping away on the keys. Ryou, intimidated by that look tried to smile to diffuse the intensity, but then Kaiba suddenly smirked and returned to looking at his screen. Ryou breathed a silent sigh of relief; he guessed he passed whatever test Kaiba decided to put him through. Marik leaned against the table and crossed his arms.

"Hey Kaiba, where's Yami?"

Kaiba rolled his eyes and carried on typing. "You should know him well enough by now to know that he won't turn up at school until the late bell is about to ring. Besides, he had to lend his car to his mother because hers was in the shop."

"You sure you two ain't going out. You both seem to know an awful lot about each other; lose one of you and just ask the other because he'll sure as hell know."

"Whatever, Ishtar. Yami and I are good friends, and besides, I'm straight."

"You _think_. I'm guessing you're bi." Kaiba scowled and opened his mouth to retort when he was interrupted by a sickeningly sweet voice calling out.

"Marik-baby! Where are you?"

"Jesus-fucking-Christ! I totally forgot about her." He turned to Kaiba who was still typing at his laptop, seemingly unfazed. "C'mon, help me out here Kaiba."

"No way.

"Bastard."

"Don't I know it." And to Marik infinite horror, Kaiba smirked then called out: "He's in here, _Viv_!"

"You're a fucking _dead-man_ Kaiba. I'm gonna _kill_ you." Kaiba, still unfazed, pointed out calmly,

"Not if she gets to you first." Marik growled angrily and his fists clenched unconsciously. Ryou looked on with a mixture of confusion, amusement and a bit of apprehension. It wasn't safe for people when Marik got into this type of mood.

"Damn! I wish Bakura was here, the bitch always leave when Bakura's here." Kaiba let out a short laugh.

"The great Marik, scared of a girl. How pathetic."

Marik snarled. "Be quiet; you're living on borrowed time anyway."

"Marik! How are you? How was your holiday? Is Yami here yet?" She had a huge smile on her face as she reached out to embrace him. Marik reached behind him, and to Ryou's surprise (and absolute terror) he took out his knife; the same one from the party the night before. Ryou could still see specks of blood on the blade. Vivian pulled up short when she spotted the knife, and she eyed it warily. Marik grinned, and it put everyone who was watching the proceedings on edge.

"How many times have I told you _not_ to call me 'Marik-baby'; _not_ to call my name like that; _not_ to talk to me, and certainly _not _to try and _hug_ me? I loathe human contact, especially if it is coming from an idiot like you." Vivian, still eyeing that knife warily, didn't react to the first part of Marik's speech, but most definitely responded to his last statement.

"But Marik," she whined, "You let Bakura hug you, and he's an absolute moron!" Ryou face-palmed, waiting for the blood-shed to begin. He didn't understand how someone could have no regard for personal safety and say something as stupid as that, especially to someone as…well, _unstable_ as Marik.

However, just as Marik was about to advance on her (knife and all) the bell rang, signalling the start of school. It gave a whole new meaning to the phrase 'saved by the bell'. Marik put his knife back from whence it came and grabbed Ryou by the hand to take him to his form room. Doing that finally drew Vivian's attention to the younger boy, and seeing how he was holding onto the hand of Marik, sneered at him.

"Oh," she said snidely, looking down her nose at him (which was pretty hard to do considering they were about the same height). "Who's this and _what_ is he doing in the common room?" Seeing as how Marik was too angry to speak, Ryou decided to step forward and introduce himself.

"Um…my name is Ryou Bakura. I'm Bakura's younger brother." He said politely, not wanting make an enemy out of anyone on his first day (or any day for that matter), especially a sixth-former. To his dismay, however, she scorned his greeting and dismissed him with a flick of her hair. Marik saw Ryou smile drop and he growled again.

"Let's see how well you fare with a broken jaw." he muttered under his breath. Ryou could see his clenched fist rising, so, trying to avoid another fight, he tugged on the hand currently in his grasp and when Marik looked at him, nodded his toward the door.

"I have to go now, Marik. I don't want to be late on my first day." He felt exactly when Marik finally relaxed and allowed Ryou to tug him towards the door and out into the hallway.

"You really are stupid, Wong." She turned to Kaiba in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

He sighed and turned his eyes heavenward as if to say, 'Lord, save me from these idiots'. "You walk in and do the one thing that Marik tells you not to; you insult his boyfriend _and_ you insult the one person who Marik will look out for apart from Bakura, all in five minutes. You made Marik pull his knife on you. Just stay away from him, or next time you won't be so lucky."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded. Kaiba rolled his eyes.

"Didn't you notice how it was Ryou who managed to stop Marik from breaking your jaw? Next time he might not be there when you decide to stick your big foot in your mouth."

"Whatever. Like Marik could ever care for a wimpy runt like that." Kaiba just sighed and shook his head. Why did he even bother?

xXx

Ryou managed to get to the classroom before the second bell rang. He grabbed a seat by the front next to the window and proceeded to stare out of it until the rest of the students trickled in. Someone shot him a nasty look and he smiled sheepishly, guessing that he had been sitting where someone else wanted to sit. As the last of the students entered the classroom and the teacher came in behind him, Ryou realised that no one was going to sit next to him. He sighed silently to himself; he knew it was going to be hard starting a new school in the middle of his academic life, since everyone else would have already established their friendships. But it didn't matter all that much, he thought to himself as he raised his hand when the teacher called for the new student, he was alone in his old school so he was no stranger to solitude. He just hoped that it would've been different here.

The teacher introduced herself as Mrs Keen and began by giving a run-down of all the rules at this school and what was expected of them 'now that they were year 9s'. After she'd finished what seemed like a 5-hour lecture to Ryou (who'd heard the exact same lecture when he was in year 6, year 7 and year 8) she proceeded to go round and hand out letters, timetables and homework journals to each student. Ryou stuffed it all in his bag after looking to see what is first lesson was, and proceeded to stare out of the window until the end of form room. When the bell went, he grabbed his bag and made his way into the hallway. After 2 minutes of wandering, he realised that: _no_, he wasn't going to find is locker this way, and _yes_, he was horribly lost, and _yes_, he would be late to his first lesson, maths. He sighed and carried on walking forwards, head staring at his feet in defeat. Therefore, with his head bowed, he didn't see that boy sprinting down the hallway towards him, calling out someone's name. Well, not until he was sprawled out on the floor, his bag skidding in the opposite direction, after being mowed down by said boy, anyway. The boy didn't even stop to see if Ryou was alright; he just carried on running.

Ryou groaned and sat up, looking for his bag. He was lucky that he didn't land on his injured arm; it was still a bit tender from the fight. His bag couldn't have skidded that far away from him, which was the reason why he started to panic when he couldn't see it since it had his phone in it. He was about to get to his knees to widen his search radius when a bronzed hand dropped into his line of vision. He clasped it and was pulled to his feet easily. He looked up to thank whoever it was who had helped him, and promptly froze. His saviour had his bag in one hand andwas _still_ holding ontoRyou's hand in the other. His hair was…wow. Ryou didn't think he'd seen anyone with hair that looked like that, and it all looked natural. Black hair that spiked upwards with crimson tips, blond shot through it like lightning; blond bangs that framed a gorgeous face with high cheek bones and full lips. A slim, compact body with a healthy golden tan. And beautiful crimson eyes that were focussed on him alone.

Ryou heart beat sped up, which was ridiculous because Ryou wasn't attracted to this boy, was he? He was straight, wasn't he? But then his helper smiled and Ryou felt his knees tremble and weaken and his mouth go dry, and then he knew that no matter how much he denied it, he had a crush on this boy.

"Are you alright?" Deep, powerful and commanding, his voice washed over him in waves. So caught up in admiring his beauty, Ryou didn't realise that he was being spoken to up until that beautiful face started to show confusion.

"Oh, um…I-I'm alright. T-thank you for your help." The smile widened and Ryou throttled the whimper that wanted to escape. Suddenly the other boy cocked his head to the side (making him look oh-so cute) and said:

"You're Bakura's brother, aren't you? You look just like him."

Ryou nodded, and when he finally regained the mental dexterity, said, "Y-yeah, my name's Ryou."

"My name's Yami, nice to finally meet you." So _this_ was the Yami who Marik was talking about, who was Kaiba's best friend. He went to reach for his bag but it was moved out of his way and slung over Yami's shoulder.

"So where're you headed? You were looking awfully lost before you were knocked down."

"I was just looking for m-my locker before I had to get to maths. But at this rate I'm going to be late for my first lesson on my first day no less." he answered, the nervousness he felt around Yami being overcome by his worry at being late.

"C'mon I'll show where your locker is. What number?"

"Oh um…" He dug a piece of paper out of his pocket to check what number. "280."

"Oh good," Yami said a he started walking again. "That's not too far from mine. Let's go." He was shown to his locker with no problems whatsoever (apart from people staring at him _again _as he walked down the hallway) and he was able to see where it was and put his coat away. Just as he was about to thank Yami again and take his bag, Yami nodded his head in another direction and began walking, Ryou hurrying behind.

"Come with me. I just want to get something from my locker then I can take you to your maths classroom. What room?"

"Oh, you don't have to."

Yami's smile turned secretive, "I know. What room?" He got his book out of his locker and turned to face Ryou, who averted his eyes, knowing that he wouldn't be able to concentrate, looking at that beautiful face. He struggled to remember for a second, and then said:

"Room 19. I can't remember which building though."

"It doesn't matter; all the maths classrooms are in one building. Let's go." Just then the second bell rang. Ryou groaned; what he was dreading the most would happen to him. Yami took one look at the expression on Ryou' face and smirked.

"Don't worry; just explain that you're new here and they'll let you off the hook." Ryou nodded (since that seemed to be all he could do with Yami's attention on him) and they started walking.

Ryou made it to his classroom without any trouble, and after saying goodbye to Yami and finally getting his bag back, braced himself and knocked on the door. When the call to enter came he opened the door and soon found he had everyone's attention on him. He _hated_ being the centre of attention, and ducked his head to avoid all their intense stares. He walked up to the teacher and explained quietly who he was and why he was late, but as silent as the classroom was he might as well shouted for everyone heard everything he said.

"Right," she smiled and it immediately put him at ease. She handed him his text book and an exercise book. "We've just started Trigonometry. Did you start that in your last school?" He shook his head. "Good. Go take a seat. If you need any help just ask the person next to you or raise your hand." He looked around the classroom and saw that the only free seat was next to a boy that…looked remarkably like Yami. He sat down, put his books on the table and took his pencil case out of his bag. As the teacher was talking about the basis of Trigonometry he was subtly nudged by the boy next to him.

"Hi, my name's Yugi. Nice to meet you." A broad smile broke out over Ryou's face; maybe he'd finally make a friend here.

"Hi, my name's Ryou. Ditto."

xXx


	3. Chapter 3

Right, this chapter starts right at the end of the last. It was that the last chapter was so long already that I had to stop. :p

xXx

Chapter 3

"Hey Ryou, what happened to your hand?" Ryou glanced down at bandaged hand; he had completely forgotten about his injured wrist since it was on his lesser used hand.

"Oh, I fell and landed awkwardly on my hand. It's not serious." He said vaguely, not wanting to tell Yugi about the party and the fight. "I'm just lucky it's not my writing hand. It would be bad for me to turn up at school and not do anything." Yugi laughed.

"Most people would call that _un_lucky. Now you _have_ to do the work." Ryou laughed with him as they packed up their maths stuff and made their way towards the door.

"What do you have now?" Yugi asked. They stopped outside the maths classroom and Ryou reached into his bag and dug out his timetable.

"I have French with…Madame Lombère." Yugi's eyes lit up.

"I have the same class as you! What do you have after?" Ryou glanced at his timetable again and pulled a face.

"I have geography. I _hate_ geography." Just then, he spotted Marik leaning against a wall, looking like he was waiting to go into a classroom. Ryou smiled and started walking over to him. It didn't look like Marik had spotted Ryou yet; in fact it looked like he was waiting for someone. His advance was stopped however, by Yugi's grip on his arm.

"What are you doing?" he hissed, a fearful expression on his face. Ryou looked at him bemusedly.

"I'm going to say 'hello'." Yugi shook his head stubbornly.

"You do _not_ want to do that. That's Marik. He's like the school psycho or something, him and his boyfriend Bakura. He'll like, punch someone for _looking_ at them funny." Yugi was expecting a number of reactions from Ryou after his statement (most of which to display some sort of fear), but not for Ryou to start smiling.

"Don't worry about it; he won't do anything to us. C'mon, let's go." And he dragged Yugi over to Marik, Yugi getting paler and paler with each step.

"Hi Marik. Where's Bakura?" Marik turned to look at them, and smirked.

"Pipsqueak." He nodded in greeting. "Who's the Yami look-alike? I know that he doesn't have any siblings."

"This is my friend Yugi. Yugi this is my friend and my brother's boyfriend." Yugi's eyes widened.

"Bakura's your brother!" Marik rolled his eyes.

"Obviously runt, he looks just like Bakura. Any idiot could see that" He turned to Ryou. "You finding your way around alright?" Ryou nodded.

"Yeah. I had a little problem this morning when I couldn't find my locker but I got help." Marik raised an eyebrow as Ryou blushed lightly for no apparent reason.

"Who helped you?" Came a voice from behind Marik. Ryou's eyes lit up and Yugi paled another shade. Ryou hugged his brother tightly, a huge smile on his face. He turned to Yugi, Bakura's arms still around him and began introductions again.

"Bakura, this is my new friend Yugi. Oh and it was Yami that helped me this morning." Bakura smirked as his brother blushed again.

"Umm...Ryou? W-we uh, need to go now or w-we'll be late for our next lesson." Poor Yugi was scared out of his mind; people like him were usually prey for people like Bakura and Marik. Ryou nodded and pulled away from his brother. They said their goodbyes and Ryou and Yugi started walking toward the exit, Yugi finally regaining his natural colour. But just as they were leaving Bakura called out,

"Come to the sixth-from block at lunchtime, alright?"

"Alright. See you later Bakura. Bye Marik."

"Later pipsqueak."

xXx

"Hey Yugi, over here!" Yugi looked around to locate the origin of the voice and spotted Ryou standing by the entrance to the cafeteria, waving his arm. He hurried over, weaving in and out of the lunchtime crowd, his lunch in his hand. He finally reached Ryou, managing not to get mowed down by the other students.

"Yugi, d'you want to come with me to the common room?" Yugi's eyes lit up before he frowned.

"I'd love to but we're not allowed in there."

Ryou smiled as he grabbed his hand and started to make his way toward the sixth-form block. "Don't worry. I was in there this morning; most of the sixth-formers don't actually mind if we're in there."

They arrived at the entrance and Ryou turned to Yugi. "Do you know the code for the door?" Yugi nodded and as he reached out to type in the correct numbers, said,

"It's the same code for all the doors in the school." He pushed the doors open and they both went inside. They were about to go into the common room when they were spotted by Vivian. She moved to block their way.

"What do you think you're doing here?" she questioned as she pushed a lock of hair out of her face. "This place is off limits to you lot." Ryou smiled to diffuse the situation as he tried to explain what was going, but the scowl on her face didn't waver once during his explanation.

"I don't care what Marik and _Bakura_," she spat his name out like it was poison, "Said. They're not here and I'm not letting you in." Ryou sighed and rolled his eyes; he didn't know what she had against his brother (or him for that matter) but he was starting to get annoyed.

"Chill out Vivian," a new voice interrupted, one that made Ryou blush from just hearing it. "No need to get so wound up over this. It's not like you actually care about that rule. Besides _I'm_ here and _I'm_ letting them in, so run along." Vivian's eyes widened at the fact that Yami had taken their side rather than back her up, but then they narrowed in anger. She turned on her heel and stomped off, pushing past Ryou and Yugi roughly. Yami smiled at the both of them.

"Hey Ryou, nice to see you again." Ryou blushed deepened and he had to force himself not to stutter.

"Hi Yami." He managed to get out. Yami nodded then turned to Yugi.

"You're Yugi, right?" Yugi's mouth dropped open.

"H-how do you know my name?" Yami smiled and gestured for them to follow him. They entered the room and Ryou noticed that it was practically empty, except for Kaiba who was sitting in the same chair, typing on his laptop (it looked as though he hadn't moved since morning) and a brunette girl, who was flicking through the TV channels with a bored look on her face. She glanced up briefly when they entered the room and shot them a small smile before returning her gaze to the TV. They were just getting comfortable around the table when Yami answered Yugi's question.

"Everyone kept on asking me whether I had a younger brother in the school because there was this kid who 'looked just like me'. So I found out who it was they were referring to." Yugi just nodded, still dumbstruck that a) someone like Yami knew his name and b) he was actually hanging out with people who, in other circumstances, were most likely tonever givehim the time of day. He was still a little intimidated so he just sat and kept quiet while Yami and Ryou engaged in conversation.

"Yami, I didn't see you at the party yesterday. How come?" Yami's eyes widened in surprise.

"You were at the party, yesterday?" Ryou nodded. "I was gonna go, but my mum grounded me for getting another speeding ticket yesterday, so I was stuck at home." Yami mock-shuddered, "She made me clean my room."

Ryou laughed. "Oh you poor child! Although, compared to Bakura's room, it was probably nothing." Yami grinned in response.

"That is so very true."

"What are you saying about me?" A grin broke out over Ryou's face when he heard his brother's voice.

"We were just saying what a pack-rat you are, and how it should be classified as cruel and unusual punishment to clean your room." Bakura just snorted and flipped Yami off with his free hand, the other carrying bags of fast food. Marik came in behind him, both hands full carrying the drinks. He slammed the door shut using his foot. He and Bakura placed the lunch on the small table by the sofas and the TV, then sat down and beckoned everyone over. Ryou and Yami went over to the food (Yami dragging Seto behind him despite his protests)withYugi trailing behind them with his packed lunch in his hand. He still felt really uncomfortable being in the same room with those people, but Ryou had assured him again and again that it was fine so…He moved over to Ryou and ended up sitting next to him and the girl that was already there. He took out his sandwiches from his packed lunch and began to eat them silently, not feeling confident enough to contribute to the conversation. Ryou was caught up in talking with his brother and his friends so he didn't seem to be aware of Yugi's prolonged discomfort.

Something poked him on the shoulder, and he looked over to the girl next to him. She smiled at him, and some of his uneasiness faded.

"Hi, I'm Anzu."

Yugi smiled back and said, "Hi, my name's Yugi. Nice to meet you."

xXx

Ryou knocked and waited outside his brother's door until Bakura let him in. After lunch, his brother had said that he wanted to talk to him, so he figured that he would see Bakura when they got home.

"Come in, Ryou." Bakura called out, knowing that if it was their parents, they wouldn't bother knocking. Ryou pushed open the door then shut it carefully behind him. He saw his brother standing by his hi-fi system, inserting a CD. A heavy bass and fast-paced drum beats blared out of the speakers. Bakura smirked and turned it up louder, knowing that it would piss off their parents. And, sure enough, a muffled shout came from downstairs, presumably a demand for Bakura to turn down his music. Bakura ignored it; instead he sat on his bed and beckoned Ryou over to sit next to him. As Ryou was making himself comfortable on his brother's bed, they faintly heard a stampede of footsteps going up the stairs. Seconds later the door was flung open and their father stood, irate, in the doorway. He stomped over to the hi-fi system and turned it off before turning around to look at Bakura.

"And that," he said, pointing behind him, "is to stay off. Understood? That's your punishment for ignoring me when I told you to turn that horrible noise down." And he crossed his arms over his chest, as if daring his son to defy him.

Unimpressed by his father's show of intimidation, Bakura rolled his eyes. "Fuck that. Now that you've tried to be the responsible parent and _failed_, can you please get the fuck out of my room?" Ryou saw his father's jaw clench and his face get increasingly redder. He winced and ducked his head, not wanting to see the ensuing fight between his brother and his father.

"Kalen Bakura, you watch your mouth!" Bakura rolled his eyes; he'd never taken any notice of that reprimand before, so what made his father think he would start now? "Ryou," Ryou jumped, not expecting to have his name called during the argument.

"Um…y-yes dad?"

"Go to your room. I need to talk to your brother." Ryou nodded and slowly got off the bed. He shot a look at his brother and then made his way towards the door. Or at least he would have, if Bakura hadn't grabbed onto his arm and pulled him back onto the bed.

"Actually, I don't think he's going anywhere. Me and Ryou need to talk and you're interrupting it. Now just _piss off_, you're not fooling anyone into thinking that you're a good parent whose children respect him."

"Ryou, leave now or you're grounded."

"Oh please, is that all you're good for? Bullying your children into listening to you? That's pathetic old man." Seeing as how he wasn't going to win this battle with Bakura, and how he was losing respect in the eyes of his youngest, Cedric Bakura tried to retreat without losing face.

"You andI are going to have a littletalk later." He growled pointing at his eldest

"Whatever. Like you'll actually _be_ there to have 'a talk' with me later, anyway." Their father stormed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.

"Good riddance," Bakura muttered as got up off the bed and walked over to the door to lock it. He switched on the hi-fi on his way back to the bed. "So, how was your day?"

Ryou smiled "It was fine. Apart from getting lost this morning, everything went fine. I managed to make new friends as well."

Bakura nodded and smirked. "Tell me what happened this morning." His smirk widened when Ryou suddenly blushed.

"I, er…was having trouble finding my first class and Yami was kind enough to help me out."

"Is that all that happened?" Ryou nodded, a faint blush still present across the bridge of his nose. "Then why are you blushing?" Ryou ducked his head against he brother's prying eyes. "Did Yami do anything to you?" Ryou shook his head frantically. "Then why are y– oh! You have a crush on Yami, don't you?" Ryou choked as he said that and he buried his head in his hands. He then looked at his brother, who was wearing a huge smirk.

"Okay so maybe I have a little" – Bakura raised an eyebrow at that – "crush on Yami. But you can't tell him! I mean I only just found out that I like guys, you know, _that_ way. I don't think I'm ready for a relationship. And besides, it's not like he could ever like me; I'm just average."

"That is the stupidest thing I ever heard. Whoever told you that was chatting a load of bullshit!" He looked at his brother and sighed when he saw that Ryou still didn't believe it; that there were plenty of people who would like to go out with him. "Alright, I won't tell Yami that you like him…" Ryou let out a small sigh of relief.

"…but that doesn't mean that I can't have a little talk with him."

Ryou choked again.

xXx


End file.
